Chippy matinee ends in defeat for Union II against Orlando City B

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: a Philadelphia team played an Orlando team in a match in which they were spread thin due to the international break and put in a poor performance in a loss at home. Well, that’s exactly what happened (again), as the Union II opened their MLS Next Pro season with a matchup against Orlando City B in a Sunday afternoon matinee just a day after the first team suffered a similar fate. 

Orlando B came out of the gates firing, as they put themselves on the board in the 5th minute thanks to a diving header from center-back Abdi Salim on a corner. The Union II lost him in the fray, and he made them pay. Then, in the 16th minute, Orlando B left-back Franco Perez made a darting solo run, knifing through the Union II midfield and backline before laying the ball off to forward Cristofer Acuña who doubled the visitor’s lead. 

However, at 2-0 down, the Union II began to grow into the match and in the 29th minute, forward Nelson Pierre pressed the Orlando B backline in true Union fashion, stole the ball and drove down the right wing before cutting the ball back to an unmarked CJ Olney Jr., whose tidy first-time finish cut the Orlando B lead in half. Pierre, Olney Jr. and the Union II continued to threaten the Orlando B backline for the remainder of the half with quick, incisive passes in the final third, but they couldn’t quite snatch an equalizer. The hosts were forced to head into the locker room down 2-1. 

Unfortunately for the Union II, coming out of the half, they couldn’t quite maintain their level from the end of the first half, and Orlando B grabbed their third goal in the 61st minute via a header from midfielder Moises Tablante. The goal was assisted by Acuña for his second goal involvement of the match. 

And despite a few half-chances in the match’s closing moments, including a promising header from right-back Francis Westfield that was saved by Orlando B goalkeeper Javier Otero, Union II never truly came close to taking anything from the match. In the end, they fell 3-1 in their season opener. 

The Union II’s next opportunity to get their first points of the season will be at home on April 2 against Inter Miami II.

GOALS/ASSISTS
ORL — Abdi Salim (Granados) 5’
ORL — Cristofer Acuña (Pérez) 17’
PHI — Christopher Olney (Pierre) 30’
ORL — Moises Tablante (Acuña) 61’

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI — Francis Westfield (caution) 44’
ORL — Jorge Almaguer (caution) 44’
ORL — Franco Pérez (caution) 48’
PHI — Maike Villero (caution) 50’
PHI — Christopher Olney Jr. (caution) 59’
ORL — Juninho (caution) 68’
ORL — Abdi Salim (caution) 69’
PHI —  Jhon Solís (caution) 79’
ORL — Wilfredo Rivera (caution) 90+5’
PHI — Pedro Álvarez (caution) 90+7’

LINEUP
Philadelphia Union II: Andrew Rick; Anton Sorenson, Gino Portella, Devon Stopek (Luciano Sanchez 86’), Francis Westfield, Christopher Olney Jr., Maike Villero (Pedro Álvarez 75’), Boubacar Diallo (Noe Uwimana 75’), David Vazquez (Jose Riasco 46’), Stefan Stojanovic, Nelson Pierre.

Substitutes not used: Marcelo Mazzola, Anthony Ramírez, Nathan Nkanji, Brooks Thompson, Luke Martelli

Orlando City B: Javier Otero; Franco Pérez, Nabilai Kibunguchy, Abdi Salim, Zakaria Taifi, Jhon Solís (Wilfredo Rivera 88’ ), Juninho, Jorge Almaguer, Alejandro Granados (Tahir Reid-Brown 79’) , Moises Tablante, Cristofer Acuña (Shakur Mohammed 67’).

Substitutes not used: Dominic Pereira, Jack Lynn, Fernando Sanchez,Chase Vazquez